The email arrived in my mailbox with the title “March Market Madness.” My friend Lauren Slayton had a problem. She is a market gardener, brilliant baker, and superb cook who sells baked goods, soups, and other prepared foods at the Middlebury Farmers’ Market. Like many growers trying to earn a living off the land, she finds it necessary to market “value-added” products. Carrots may be a dime a dozen in the growers’ bins, but Lauren’s creamy Carrot-Ginger Soup is a whole other story. It flies out of the market. Likewise her potpies and rustic tarts, not to mention her breads, brownies, and cookies.

Now that it is March, Lauren’s supply of the vegetables she grew herself has dwindled. So she proposed a contest to help her come up with a localvore-inspired recipe for the next market, with extra brownie points (literally, meaning she would include brownies with the prize), if the recipe included onions or garlic, her last remaining vegetables.

Red onions. Photo by Lauren Slayton

Onions don’t get enough love. They are a workhorse in the kitchen, the backbone flavor note in many, many soups and sauces. I don’t think my mother ever cooked a single dinner than didn’t start with “first you sauté an onion.” But beyond French onion soup and batter-coated onion rings, there aren’t a lot of classic onion dishes. So Lauren’s market regulars might have been stumped by the challenge. But I wasn’t.

Just that week, I watched as my last pint jar of Rosemary Onion Confit was opened and consumed on biscuits with some nicely aged goat cheese from Twig Farm in Cornwall, Vermont. I knew that onions can be the star of the show, so I sent her a recipe that will appear in The Pickled Pantry, which will be out in June. The recipe makes a delectable, savory-sweet jam or rosemary-scented caramelized onions. I’ve enjoyed it on turkey sandwiches and used it to as a filling for a pork tenderloin.

Rosemary Onion Confit on a biscuit

Lauren used the confit as a filling for a rustic tart. What will this relish inspire you to make?

Photo by Lauren Slayton

Rosemary Onion Confit

Makes 3 pints

.

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 pounds onions, chopped

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon rosemary

1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat to low, and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are brown and meltingly tender, about 30 minutes.

2. Stir in the sugar, cider vinegar, rosemary, and soy sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.